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Ask HN: The best way to find remote job

106 points| shtpavel | 12 years ago | reply

What is the best way to find remote job? Actually i'm tryin' to find 20hours\week job to upgrade my Node.js(for now i'm .NET developer) skill and learn something new with real life project.. But I want to get some small salary, 5-15\hour will be okey. So where I can find such jobs?

91 comments

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[+] tzaman|12 years ago|reply
5-15/hour? You're doing yourself and the industry a huge disservice, regardless what currency this is in. If you're a .NET developer, I take it you know what you're doing and even if you want to learn Node.js along the way, that's not a way to go. Once you're set on a small amount (and charge by the hour, another big sin we're all guilty of) it's really hard to get more, and you'll end up doing crappy work for crappy clients. Don't do that.
[+] shtpavel|12 years ago|reply
Currency - dollar. hm... what is the right pricing?
[+] jburwell|12 years ago|reply
weworkremotely.com (run by the 37signals/Basecamp folks) and jobs.joelonsoftware.com (shortcut to Stackoverflow jobs) are two sources of remote job listings. I am sure there are more -- these are just two with which I happen to be familiar. I have also found that both of these sites have a fairly high quality of job listings.

Another approach to consider is seeking freelance work. You may be able to find work porting .NET applications to node.js which would allow you to leverage you current skill set to learn a new one. The challenge with this approach is that freelance rates can be pretty cut throat. Therefore, it would likely best to view these types of jobs as an opportunity to build experience/portfolio more than money making.

[+] tzaman|12 years ago|reply
We hired two developers through WeWorkRemotely (gotten about 100 applicants), and couldn't be happier. Highly recommended.
[+] danielweber|12 years ago|reply
For remote jobs, clarity of communication is essential.

I hope this doesn't read as mean, since I suspect English is not your first language, but if you are trying to get hired by an English speaking company, you need to use proper grammar and spelling.

If you are looking for job in your native language, and just raising the topic here on HN as the best place to discuss it, then please only read the first paragraph of this comment. I don't mean to exclude you from discussing things here.

[+] shtpavel|12 years ago|reply
I'm working on it :)
[+] stevoo|12 years ago|reply
This is a very hard to question to answer you and there is no actual solution to give you.

It all comes down to how good you really are. I have been looking for the past 3 - 4 months for a remote job, but since the competition out there is huge and there are definitely better programmers than me I haven't manage to land anything yet.

Make a great CV, a personal page, work on github to show your work. This will help you dramatically since you will be displaying your work and who you are. ( I have all except github as all I do is actually on my own repos )

As for the hours you are willing to put in, then that is more like freelancing than a full time job. Perhaps try Elance for some freelancing and work on your own to learn node.

[+] Touche|12 years ago|reply
> It all comes down to how good you really are. I have been looking for the past 3 - 4 months for a remote job, but since the competition out there is huge and there are definitely better programmers than me I haven't manage to land anything yet.

Not trying to be harsh, but if you honestly believe this, you should give up right now. There will always be people smarter than you, this is a given. But you will never land a job with the attitude of "I'm not good enough to work here".

[+] Spendar89|12 years ago|reply
> I have all except github as all I do is actually on my own repos

I would suggest making one or more of your repos public. Even if you're the only one contributing, potential employers will still get a sense of your ability and/or experience. Another idea is to make a repo of just code samples. Nothing demonstrates how you code better than your actual code.

[+] bentcorner|12 years ago|reply
Can people who are working remotely share their experience? What works, what doesn't?

Some things I've heard about that I wouldn't mind reading about again:

- Making an office space in the home (I've seen workspaces designed [I think] for remote workers - do people use these and find they offer value?)

- Setting up boundaries with family members

- Communication habits - do you scrum over text chat, or daily video conferencing? What about large team meetings? Do you share daily status over email, or is that too much overhead?

- Working hours - do all-remote teams encourage syncing up time that the team is online? If you're remote and most of the team is together, do you work hours that are local to the rest of the team? I've heard it can be hard in this situation making sure that the rest of the team remembers you in hallway conversations, since it's easy to forget the one guy who is remote.

Some stuff I haven't seen written about:

- Logistics - do you need to be the admin for your PC? Do you get a hardware budget, or is it entirely BYOB?

I'm also interested in how the remote dynamic changes going from small teams to companies with thousands of employees.

[+] cnkeller|12 years ago|reply
I've been working 100% remotely for a large US firm (tens of thousands of global employees) for a few years now. Prior to that I worked for the same firm in office. My current role is physically in a separate state from the others, so it's not possible to do a few days in the office and a few days at home (I think that is the best of both worlds).

I have a home office with a door on a separate floor from where most of the family is. Even though I wear headphones, being able to close the door indicates "dad is focused" as opposed to just having the door open which means interruptions are okay. Occasionally I'll work remote from being remote and hit the local coffee shop. I find that a simple change of scenery helps me focus/

We use both google hangouts and hipchat text/video for meetings as well as email and other solutions. We also conference call a lot on mobiles. We don't do daily status (I've never offered and no one asked). People sync up as needed. The only thing I miss is being able to stand in front of a whiteboard and draw things for group feedback, but I've adjusted.

I work my own schedule which is loosely based on the standard business day. I'm consider myself "in the office" from around 630am to about 5pm, but I take breaks during the day to eat, play with the dogs, go the the gym or run errands. As with most places, it's more about what you deliver than working a strict eight hour day. I'm more of an architect than developer so I'm not pair programming or working directly with someone every second. Asynchronous communications have been fine.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I'm out of sight and out of mind. I miss hallway chats, impromptu meetings, etc. I consider it a fair trade off for the lifestyle. I'm not sure it's hurt my career, but it probably hasn't helped it.

We use corporate computers with VPN's as needed for patching, internal access, etc.

[+] swah|12 years ago|reply
Also I'm curious if people from "3rd world countries" are also able to find remote work and where (I'm from Brazil).
[+] j45|12 years ago|reply
I'm really surprised oDesk has not been mentioned. They have merged with elance, and the type of work you are looking for at the rates you are seeking (and higher) are routinely listed there.

I would create a profile on that site, most new freelancers there start with a lower rate to build experience and feedback and in a few months look to raise the rate.

Feel free to contact me by email and I can tell you what my experience has been from the hiring side.

[+] zura|12 years ago|reply
Not sure about hiring side (about quality...), but from the contractor side - stay away from these sites. It is the race to the bottom...
[+] city41|12 years ago|reply
It might be tough to get hired in that scenario. You might want to bootstrap this idea by first doing some of your own Node projects.
[+] KB1JWQ|12 years ago|reply
Quite; "pay me to learn technology X" is always going to be a tough sell unless you're bringing another skillset to a problem.
[+] shtpavel|12 years ago|reply
Yep, working on my own pet-projects is always sounds good and i'm doing it, but money, even small amount is always better motivation.
[+] Touche|12 years ago|reply
Specifically for Node it's nice to have some notoriety, no matter how small. So create a cool Node module that does something original and email the guys at dailyjs.com about it. If it gets posted there put that in your resume and you'll land a job.

But not a lot of companies are looking for part-time programmers, why do you not want a full-time job?

[+] shtpavel|12 years ago|reply
Full time job is OK, but if it'll suit my salary requirements. For now i'm, ok with my current job. But want to move forward. I mean, I want to learn new techs by part-time job, and then move to full-time.
[+] thibaut_barrere|12 years ago|reply
What I do is "plant small seeds" on the web (like: articles, video talks), which acts as "ads" for my skills. Then I make sure I can be found online (twitter, site, forums). It's a midterm strategy but works very well (I've worked 100% remotely during the last 3 years).
[+] infinitone|12 years ago|reply
I don't get it- can you give an example of a 'seed'?

Sounds interesting.

[+] keslert|12 years ago|reply
Have you considered picking up freelance node.js work? I run a website called FreelanceInbox.com that is designed to help freelancers find quality leads without having to spend time a lot of time searching. You could probably handle small projects and develop your skills that way.
[+] mrfusion|12 years ago|reply
Cool site, neat idea. Any chance I could get a week's trial before I sign up? I'd be more interested in data science, and/or Python/Django work. I can't tell if you have that.
[+] sjclemmy|12 years ago|reply
I would suggest you make yourself easily contactable. Posting this question on HN might interest a possible employer who would offer you some work. However they will have a hard time doing so, if your contact details are not mentioned in your profile.

Update: You have added contact details. :)

[+] ksakhuj|12 years ago|reply
I'm thinking of finding a remote job too. I am an experienced Nodejs developer/architect. My current gig, I am nodejs lead & initial team member, in a very popular app. So I have scaled the app to millions.
[+] adamzerner|12 years ago|reply
I'm thinking of finding a remote job too. However, I'm inexperienced and a friend of mine said that people don't tend to hire remotely for junior level positions. Is this true?
[+] keslert|12 years ago|reply
Same thing as I mentioned in my other comment. Freelancing is sometimes a good fit for people in your position. To help you get on your feet, I created a website called FreelanceInbox.com that is designed to help freelancers find quality leads without having to spend time a lot of time searching.
[+] RoryH|12 years ago|reply
Once you can do the job that's all that matters.
[+] andys627|12 years ago|reply
Meet other developers (at meetups or coworking spaces) and ask them if they know someone who's hiring.